She Doesn't Talk
by Belle Goode
Summary: I don't own The Fosters! A/U. A girl caught between the world she lives in and the world she knows is there, steps out on a limb and saves one of the Fosters clan out of a spur of the moment thing one of her classmates said. Will the family find a way to help her, or will she become a product of the life around her. First Fosters Fic! Reviews welcome!
1. Chapter 1

She felt the bullet sink into the back of her shoulder and the burning feeling that sunk in and seemed to stay. She felt her body fall to the ground, but it wasn't the ground. Thats what she had to remember. It was the cop. She'd had to protect the cop.

Her body was being rolled. She wished she could open her eyes so she could see if the blond woman was okay. That had been the whole purpose though. To protect the cop. Not that she'd ever been fond of the police, hell most of them just gave her shit for being out in the streets. But the girl in her school had made mention that her mom was a cop. And if someone's mom could mean that much to them, then she could at least appreciate a woman cop, no matter the circumstances.

So when Tommy D had pulled his glock, she'd seen where he was aiming and hadn't even thought, when she'd taken off running toward the woman in uniform. Though she was probably confused as to what was going on and why she was being tackled, since she'd been the only one to see the gun trained on the woman.

Rolling this kid off of her, it took a few moments for Stef to realize that she'd heard a gunshot, just prior to going down. Or maybe while she was going down. Reaching down, she felt the blood that was now seeping out of this kid's shoulder. She was probably sixteen years old, maybe a little older, dyed purple hair and she was thin. Too thin for a kid of her age.

Mike stopped when he was close to the pair laying there, gun still pulled, waiting for another shot. Grabbing his ex wife by her shirt, he dragged her back behind the car door, leaving the kid lying in the street. "We can't leave her there."

"I'm going back for her. Don't worry."

"She shouldn't be moved. That bullet didn't come out, which means it could be anywhere."

"We can't just leave her there, Stef."

"Then move the truck. Get back-up here!" and she shifted herself, making her way out from under cover to get near the girl again.

Left with no choice, he got in the squad car and pulled it forward, covering both of them. Getting out, there were no other shots as back up arrived.

Putting her hand on the girls face, she pushed the hair back, instantly taking note of the dark make up, and all the piercings, one in her eyebrow, one in her bottom lip, one in her nose and three in each ear. "Jeez kid, what were you thinking?"

There was no response. Looking back at Mike, she covered the kid a little more, knowing she had her vest on and could take a hit if necessary. "She jumped in front of a bullet for me."

He nodded. "I know."

"Where did she even come from?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, Stef. Back up is here."

They had the scene secure before they knew it, and the ambulance was there. Staring after the kid as they loaded her up in the bus, she glanced at Mike. "I'm going to ride to the hospital with her."

Not sure why, he stared at her. Finally, he nodded once, telling her he would stay behind to do paperwork.

Watching in her eyes, he grabbed his phone deciding he would call Lena and let her know what was going on. Not that Stef wouldn't, but when she focused on something, things had a way of falling to the wayside when it came to letting people know what was going on.

Crawling up into the back of the ambulance, she watched them strap the kid in and start throwing needles and patches everywhere for IV's and such. Why did you do it, kid? What on Earth were you thinking?

She wouldn't get answers until the kid awoke. Having confidence that she would wake up soon. She didn't say anything as the EMT gave a rundown as much as he could. She was still as glass as he continued to prod and poke, running what he could to find out what was going on.

Stopping for a few moments, she cleared her throat. "There is no exit wound."

Nodding, he rolled her up onto her side once again to look at the wound. "She needs an x-ray as soon as we arrive, bullet is still in her neck looking at this trajectory."

"Got it!" the driver yelled back and started calling in to the awaiting staff prepping for their arrival. She heard them call out that their ETA was four minutes, and she prayed there was no major internal bleeding from the bullet. She helped as the tech started taking her jewelry off and putting it in a ziplock.

* * *

Looking at the phone in her hand, she saw Mike's number come up. It always made her worry when it was the middle of the day and he was ringing her phone. Because it usually meant that Stef was elbow deep in something that was going to freak her out.

"Hello."

"Hey Lena. Listen...there was a shooting today..."

Her breath caught in her chest. Not again. Please, not again. She hadn't realized she'd said it out loud until she heard his voice again.

"No. Not again. Actually, some kid jumped in front of her. She's on her way to the hospital with her, but she's fine. I was just letting you know because she's probably not thinking about much right now except the kid."

Letting her breath out, she nodded. Stef always did get consumed in what she was doing, especially when kids were involved. "Thanks."

"Do you want me to come get the kids so you can go up to the hospital?"

"Yes...thanks. Just...I'll let Brandon know what's going on."

"Alright. I've got them, I'll get them home. You go take care of Stef."

"Thanks." and she hit the end button. Popping her head into Monty's office, she cleared her throat. "There was a shooting...I've got to go."

Sitting up straight in her chair she leaned forward. "Oh my gosh! Is your wife okay?"

She nodded. "She is, but a kid was hit and she's at the hospital and I was going to..."

"Go." she interrupted. "Go to her. Keep me posted."

Nodding again she mouthed 'Thanks' before disappearing into the hallway. Making her way to her son's room, she knocked on the door and asked him to step out quickly.

Brandon knew it was serious; even being vice principal, she never took him out of class. "What's up?"

"Your dad is going to come and get you guys from school."

"Wait...what? What's wrong with mom?"

"Mom was involved in a shooting...don't worry, she wasn't shot. But she's with the kid who was shot at the hospital. I'm going up there to be with her."

He nodded. "Do you want me to do anything?"

"Just get the kids home."

He nodded again. "Tell mom I love her."

Giving him a hug real quick, she kissed his cheek. "I will." and she set off for the car.

Pulling up at the hospital within a few minutes, she rushed up the steps. "Okay Stef...where are you?" she whispered to herself softly. Suddenly Mike came into view. "Mike!"

"Lena!" he said, relieved.

"Where's Stef?"

"She's in room three-thirteen."

"Thanks." and she disappeared around the corner. Stepping up, she knocked softly, before creaking it open. "Stef?"

She smiled. "Hey." she replied softly.

Then she looked down at the girl in the bed. Still as glass and clearly unconscious. "What happened?" came out as she made her way over and hugged her wife tightly.

"We were investigating a scene and suddenly I was tackled. I heard a pop and noticed it was her that had been shot. She jumped in front of a bullet for me. And I had my vest on. I'd have been fine."

Looking closer at the child she squeezed her wife's hand. "Oh my gosh, Stef. I know this girl!"

"What?"

"She just enrolled at Anchor Beach on Monday. I wondered why I hadn't seen her today."

"What's her name?"

"Jace Lynn Taylor." then her brows furrowed. "She didn't have her school ID on her?"

Shaking her head back and forth, she leaned forward. "There was no identification on her at all. We didn't know who she was or where she came from."

"I have all her information at the school if you need."

"Yeah."

"Why'd she do it?"

"I don't know. She literally appeared out of nowhere and took me down."

"Well what's going on with her?"

"Doctor said they removed the bullet but that she could possibly have minor damage to her shoulder and collar bone area. I'd like to stay here until she wakes up, get her statement and pretty much say thanks. Try and understand why."

"I doubt you'll get much out of her."

"Why?"

"She doesn't talk."

"What?"

"Well, I mean...she talks, but very little, and you really have to push her. But she's freaking brilliant. She surprised me when she came in."

Curious as to why, she cocked her head slightly. "Really?"

Lena nodded. "I've been at Anchor Beach for a long time and I've never seen anyone take an entrance exam in less than an hour. And not only take it that fast, but pass it with a hundred and not even be phased by it. She's in advanced classes and despite her only being fifteen, I'm trying to get her into the senior class."

Staring at her, she smiled.

"What?"

The blond shook her head? "I love you very much, Misses Lena Adams-Foster."

Leaning in softly, she kissed her wife then sat back.


	2. Chapter 2

It was almost two hours later when the girl shifted, her eyes fluttering open. She stared at the two women who were mid conversation, not making a sound. The dark headed woman turned to her and smiled. "Hi there."

She continued staring.

Stef turned instantly toward the girl, causing her focus to shift to her. "My name is Stefanie Adams-Foster. You kind of saved my life. Do you know where you are?"

Looking around briefly, she took that she was in a hospital, but there were at least five in San Diego, there was no telling which one she was in. She shook her head barely back and forth.

"You're at Scripps Mercy Hospital. Do you remember how you got here?"

She did remember. Vaguely. She didn't say yes or no. She just stared. Then she noticed … the vice principal? What in the world was _she_ doing in her hospital room? She swallowed hard.

Stef leaned forward. "I'm going to get the nurse. Give me a second. I'll be right back."

Great. The nurse was just going to ask her a million questions...just like they always did. But no one ever listened to her when she said anything. So she'd adopted a policy of not talking at all. The vice principal looked at her, her eyes soft and actually...accepting? She'd never been accepted for who she was by...anyone. She'd always been told she was too rough, too tough, too many piercings, purple hair was just punk and punk wasn't good for anyone...the list went on and on. But this woman seemed to look at her, differently. There was an almost...acceptance, to her gaze.

She leaned forward. "Don't worry, Jace. They're going to get you taken care of, in no time. Alright?"

She stared at her. The woman was surely just being nice because she was in the hospital. But it made her wonder how she knew the cop.

Stef stepped back into the room and nodded. "Lena, love, I have to ask her a few questions."

Nodding, knowing this was a part of her wife's job, she stood. "Jace, I'll see you soon, okay?" and she watched as the kids expression didn't change. Turning around, she hugged the blond and kissed her quickly. "I'll see you at home. Mike's got the kids so I'm going to start dinner."

"Alright. I'll be home as soon as I can." then she turned and looked at the kid. She couldn't read her face even the slightest. And usually she was good at it. This kid was used to hiding emotions.

Well that made a bit of sense. Then shocked her. Sitting up straighter, she winced in pain.

"Easy, sweets."

Sweets? When was the last time anyone had ever called her anything except her name? Or brat, or punk, something derogatory. Who _was_ this cop? Seriously.

"Are you feeling up to a few questions?"

Blinking a long blink, she shrugged her shoulders, immediately paying for the move she made without even thinking about it.

The kid's eyes squeezed together and she bit her bottom lip to keep from making a sound. Sure she would do this if it was one of her kids, she reached out and took her hand, while she seemed to struggle through the pain. "Easy. Just breathe. It will pass."

It wouldn't pass. Pain never passed. It just subsided until something else hit you in the face. But she surprised herself but squeezing this woman's hand back, still not making a sound. She leaned back against the pillows, amazed at how tired she was becoming. She supposed being shot took more out of a person than she realized. But it didn't matter.

"Better?"

Conceding, she nodded her head a little.

"Not big on conversation, are you?"

She looked at her, but didn't respond.

"My wife said you didn't talk unless you had to." then she studied her. "How about, if I ask you questions, I do my best to ask you yes and no questions. Yes?"

Not sure where to even begin, she swallowed hard and blinked back the tears threatening to fall. Why was this woman being nice to her?

"First, I would like to say that while I don't understand why, I am grateful that you put yourself in harms way. Second, I'm sure my family would feel the same way. Do you have anyone that may be looking for you? Is there anyone I can call?"

She was close to shaking her head no, when another officer walked in through the door. "Jace! Why am I _not _surprised to see you here, being interviewed by another cop?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Stef stood up and confronted the man. He was a good eight inches taller than she was, with red hair and deep green eyes.

Taking a 'ready for a fight' stance, he placed his hands on his hips and looked down on her. "Officer Kendallman. Steven Kendallman."

Calmly standing there, with her hands folded in front of her, her feet widened as she stood there. "Officer Kendallman, I'm Officer Stefanie Adams-Foster. Can I ask you why you are here?"

"Jace has been making trouble since she was about eleven years old. She's got a rap sheet almost as long as I am tall. Can't seem to keep herself out of it."

"What does this have to do with why you're here?"

"I came down to get her statement and sit with her until her foster family gets here."

"And where are they now?"

Probably getting high...she thought to herself irritated. They weren't coming. He was going to be here for a while. Dammit. She knew better than to think anyone would actually be nice to her. Then something happened that she had no sooner expected than to be slapped in the face.

"I'm not sure where they're at. We're having a hard time getting a hold of them."

"Well then you can go on. I will stay with her until they arrive."

"Wait, what?"

"I said I'll stick around."

"Yeah but you don't understand. This girl is an escape artist. She not the type..."

"She's not going anywhere. Go on back to your desk. I'll be fine with her. I'll stay here until someone arrives."

Stunned, he stared for a minute, not sure what to do. "She's nothing but trouble. Always has been, always will be. Has trouble with authority. You'll see. Don't worry."

Shrugging, she put her hands on her hips and stood a little taller. "Well I guess I'll see then."

Shaking his head, he walked out the door, mumbling to himself.

Turning, she glanced at the kid still in the bed. She studied her. "You don't expect your foster parents to show up any time soon. Do you?"

Letting out a resigned sigh, she closed her eyes and shook her head, sadly.

"Do you know where they are?"

Her head shook back and forth again.

Letting out a soft breath, she sat back in the chair. Not sure why she asked the question, she turned her head slightly. "Do you feel safe at home?"

This time, instead of answering yes or no, she simply stared at the woman, unable to stop the moisture threatening to escape down her cheek. She swallowed hard and turned her head as the woman looked into her eyes.

Taking the hint and nodding gently, she leaned forward toward the girl. "You are safe here. With me. I won't let anything happen to you."

Yeah. But you're not going to be there forever. And sooner or later, my foster losers are going to be here, to make sure they can take me home and get my check every week. Damn she was tired. Her lids started to sag.

"I'm going to ask a few questions, but then, feel free to relax back. I wont let anything happen to you." and they were interrupted again when the nurse popped into the room.

Letting out an irritated sigh, she closed her eyes in a long blink. The small woman seemed to float into the room, coming around the other side of the bed and checking her vital signs.

"How are you feeling?"

Not really answering, she just nodded.

"Good. Glad your better. Now the bullet did some damage in your shoulder area more than anything so we'll probably have you in physical therapy. You lost a good bit of blood during the surgery so it'll be a couple of days before you get out of here. Here's the nurse call button. If you need anything, like to get up and go to the bathroom, you're in any pain...any of that, you just press the button and we'll be right here. Okay?" and she watched the kid nod. Turning to the cop, she cleared her throat. "She really needs her rest right now."

Stef nodded. "I'm staying with her until one of her foster parents get here."

"Oh!" she said, and smiled in understanding. "Okay good. I'll be her nurse, my name is Mandy. You just let me know if she needs anything."

Nodding again, she smiled. "I will." then she waited for the woman to leave. "You okay?" she asked her softly.

Debating whether or not to answer, she finally nodded, unable to stop from closing her eyes. Damn she was tired.

Sighing gently, she reached out and squeezed the kids hand once more. "Rest. I'll be here when you wake up."

* * *

About an hour later, a small knock sounded on the door. The doctor made his way in quickly. "How is she?" he asked Stef quietly.

She nodded. "She's alright. Really tired."

He nodded and glanced at the chart. "Looking at this, it doesn't surprise me."

"What do you mean?"

Taking a deep breath, he let it out. "I need to make a phone call."

"Wait...why?"

His head shook back and forth. "She's extremely malnourished, she's dehydrated, she should weigh one-fifteen, one-twenty. She's barely a hundred pounds. There are no drugs in her system, but she's been in contact with someone recently who has smoked marijuana."

Stef knew that people can, and sometimes do, pop positive from a drug test using hair, simply by coming into contact with the second hand smoke from it. And that fact alone told her, she was right. This kid needed protection. Jotting down Bill's number that she knew by heart because of her last four kids, coming into the house through him, she handed it to him. "Call him. He's with Social Services. Tell him Stefanie told you to call him and that I'm up here, with her."

Nodding, he took the paper and made his way out of the room.

Looking back at the kid, she noticed her eyes open. "Hey, sweets."

She swallowed and shifted, immediately being met with pain. "You're...mad."

Her voice sounded so small and so soft. Letting out a resigned sigh, she leaned forward. "Sometimes my job is hard. It bothers me to see when people are being mistreated. Especially people who are under eighteen."

Nodding her head, she swallowed again and closed her eyes once more. Opening them slowly, she took in a solid breath, sure it was the exhaustion causing her to break her silence as easily as she was. "Why...are you...being...so nice?"

The woman's smile was so warm and inviting. "Well, though my children would probably argue with you on this, I'm generally a nice person." and it caused a soft giggle. "Can I ask you a question?"

She nodded.

"Why did you take a bullet for me?"

"I...I didn't...I was..." and she stammered for moment, before she stopped talking and bit her lip to keep from crying.

"Okay, easy. We can discuss it later. Okay? Just take a deep breath, calm down. You need to rest. So lets just take it easy. Take a deep breath." and she worked to try and keep the kid calm. Whatever it was, she didn't want to talk about it. And she wasn't going to force it. By the sounds of it, she'd been forced to live in rough places and probably deal with situations that kids shouldn't have to deal with. Confident she'd calmed down, she smiled. "So, Lena tells me that you're doing really well at Anchor Beach. She said you're one of the smartest students she has."

"Really?"

She nodded. "She's got a lot of faith in you."

No one had faith in her. "Why?"

Unsure of how to answer her, she leaned back and folder her hands in her lap. "Why don't you ask her?"

She didn't want to ask her. Because she didn't like talking to most people. And asking this woman why she had faith in her would be making a connection. A connection that wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. It never did. No one cared about her. And she knew it. So there was no use in pretending. She didn't answer as she stared. The woman's cell phone began to ring.

"Sorry...excuse me..." and she answered. "Hello? - Yes. Yes my babies, I'm fine. - Yes, I promise, I'll be home soon. - I know. - Yes...yes but I'm okay. The girl that was shot saved my life. - Yes, that would be nice. - Okay, I'll see you as soon as I get there. - I know. So no tears, yes? - Good. I love you. - Alright, bye."

Listening to the conversation on this side of it made her almost wish she'd be lucky enough to be cared for by someone. Lord only knew where her world would take her, and where her life would go from this point. Internally shaking her head, she looked away, knowing she would never know what it was like to be loved.

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews/follows/likes! I'm so glad people are enjoying. Please feel free to review as I go along, let me know how you like Jace. Hopefully it wont take as long to get the next chapter up, my five year old keeps me on my toes. :) Until next chapter...**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry guys! Kind of a short chapter this time around. Have had a lot going on and not a lot of time to do much of anything on my stories. Bare with me though, I promise, I'll get better about it. :)**

Bill showed up almost immediately after she got off the phone with her family. Knocking softly, he made his way in.

Stef stood, "Bill."

He nodded. "Hey Stef." then he appraised the child in the bed. "And who might you be, young lady?"

Glancing back at the blond, she pressed her lips together.

"This is Jace Taylor."

He nodded again and smiled gently. "It's nice to meet you, Jace. Hope you're feeling better soon." then he set his briefcase down on the rolling table in the room. "So it would seem, you saved my friends life today."

Her expression not changing at all, she didn't make a move.

"She's not one for talking."

"So it would seem. Well, according to the doctor here, there are a few concerns they have about..." and he stopped and glanced up when they both noticed the monitors, and the girls heart rate go up.

Stef leaned forward. "Easy, Jace."

Fear screamed in this kids eyes as she stared back at her.

"Jace, I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Remember? I promised you. Didn't I promise you?"

It did nothing to relieve the worry. Another figure burst through the door and Stef suddenly realized why the kid was scared. She must have heard the woman's voice from down the hall. The woman was thinner and definitely appeared as if under the influence of something.

"Dammit, Jace. I told you not to get into any more trouble! Even enrolled you in that fancy school! They're going to take you away from us! Now is that what you want? Look at what you've done."

She watched the kids features go from worry filled to guilty in a breath. And she had nothing to be guilty for. "Excuse me...who are you?" asking that question for the second time in the last four hours.

"I'm Tammy. I'm her foster mother."

"And what is it she's supposed to have done?"

"Well...she went...and got herself in trouble. They're going to take her from us now."

She nodded. "They are, indeed. But it's not for getting into trouble."

"Well then you can't touch her. I know my rights!"

Studying the woman with brown hair pulled back into a pony tail, she crossed her arms. "What are you under the influence of, right this moment?"

"What?"

"You heard me, clearly."

The nurse appeared back into the room. "Okay, I need everyone out of the room right now please. Move this to the waiting room." and she raised her hand in protest as the brunette opened her mouth. "Now!" she said almost forcefully.

The three adults left the room as Mandy walked in and started trying to calm the girl down. "Easy, honey. Don't stress about that mess. You let the adults deal with adult issues." and she glanced at the monitors. The kid's heart rate only continued to increase though as she fought to hang on. "Jace? Sweetie you need to breathe. Take a deep breath." she said noticing her struggling to fight for air. Pressing the nurse call button she didn't wait for a response. "Hey Tiff. Bring me some Hypnovel and some gauze. She's bleeding from her surgery wound."

"Be there in a sec." resonated over the speaker.

Getting irritated at the situation, she squeezed Jace's good shoulder gently. "Calm down, sweet girl. I'm going to help you out. Just give me a second."

But the more that was going on to calm her down, the more panicked she was becoming. She swallowed hard. "They're going to kill me." she said softly, squeezing her eyes closed as pain washed over her, from her shoulder down her body.

"No one is going to touch you today, baby. Try to breathe for me."

The second nurse burst into the room, syringe in one hand, gauze in the other. "Jace, my name is Tiffany. We're going to take good care of you, sweetie. Okay?" and both nurses noticed her looking out the door, almost as if waiting for someone else to pop in.

Things started fading as the two nurses started to talk to each other and ask her questions. She couldn't seem to make her mouth work any longer. She wished that cop was still in there with her. But the nurse had booted her out of the room. Swallowing hard, her eyes flitted closed and she felt someone touch her arm.

"That's right. Close your eyes. You're safe." and she grabbed all of the empty bandaging and needles and started putting everything away. "Thanks, Tiff. If you'll keep an eye on her for a second, I'll be right back." then she glanced at the monitors once more. "Actually, if you could hook her up to some air, just to help her out for a little bit while the sedative is going strong."

The dark haired girl nodded and she made her way to the waiting room.

* * *

Stepping into the waiting room where the three adults were still arguing she stepped in. "I don't know who did what and when in that room, but she is no condition to be around any upset at the moment."

Straightening, Stef looked at the nurse. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm sure I didn't help matters. How is she?"

"I've sedated her. The bullet wound has started bleeding again..." and she was cut off.

"Bullet wound?" came from the brown haired woman's mouth. "What did you do to my daughter?"

Opening her mouth to retort, she stopped when she noticed the nurse. Letting her breath out through her nose, she nodded. "Bullet wound..." she prompted.

Standing straighter, she turned her body toward the cop, as the other two continued to argue. "Would you like to see her?"

Stef nodded. "Please."

"Can I..." and the nurse cut the woman off.

"No. Not at this time."

"But why does she get to go?"

"She's been here all afternoon." Mandy replied simply. And she turned toward the blond, motioning her to follow. "I gave her a really mild sedative, it wont last long, but she doesn't need to get upset. She was in the beginning stages of a panic attack and she said something in the midst of it that worried me."

"Okay?"

"She said 'They're going to kill me.' And I can only assume it was her fosters that she was referring to."

Nodding, Stef agreed it probably was.

"I've got a cannula running just to give her a little extra boost of air, and she's going to be out for a bit, but I think it would help if you were in here when she woke up. She seems to be comfortable around you."

Stef nodded, sitting down and settling in. The nurse was right, it wasn't long before she was awake, and she seemed to take relief in the fact that the blond was there.

"Hey." she said softly.

The kid just looked at her and didn't respond verbally.

Letting her breath out through her nose, she leaned forward. "It's okay."

Her brows furrowed and she looked like she was about to say something, but she stopped herself.

Almost reading the question, she grabbed the girl's hand. "Your fosters have been stripped of their title. They aren't likely to be able to foster again. They can't hurt you ever again."

The question of where she would go now, hung in the air, but she didn't ask it. She studied the cop, wondering if she would ever know someone like her in her life. The woman wasn't scared of anything. And she wasn't scared to stand up to anyone either. But she wasn't scared to reach out and take her hand and tell her everything was going to be okay. Mentally shaking her head, she knew her life would never go that route and if she wished all day long, it would do nothing but hurt her in the end. So for now, she was going to continue with the thought process of staying silent, and letting the cards fall where they may.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry about the delay guys, been working on editing a book to publish, dealing with some family things and taking care of my 5 year old and our menagerie. This is a really short chapter, but I wanted ya'll to know I'm not done yet and I'm still working on it, though a touch slowly. I'm amazed at all the likes/follows and reviews! I hope I don't let anyone down. :)**

Arriving at the hospital the next morning she found the kid still asleep in the hospital bed. She was dreaming. Her brows furrowed as she squeezed her eyes closed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I swear I didn't mean it." Stef made out softly. She'd hated leaving the kid in the room by herself last night, but she'd had to go home, and she was ready to see her wife and kids, all things considered. "Jace?"

Bright, moist eyes, opened as she woke with a gasp.

"Easy. It's just me. You were dreaming."

Swallowing hard, she stared.

Damn she hated that this girl didn't feel comfortable enough to talk to her about anything. Though, her oldest daughter was much the same when she showed up, and with good reason. Thinking back briefly it made her smile. They'd come a long way with Callie and Jude. "I can't stay long, I just wanted to check on you this morning. My wife will probably be by a little later today and then I'll stop in when I get off work. I'd stay if I could, but honestly, my family would probably kill me if I missed dinner again tonight."

Blinking quickly, she nodded in understanding.

"So, how are you doing?"

She stared, once more.

Back to silence. She hadn't expected any less, though, if she was going to be honest. Someone was going to have to prove to her that everyone in the world, was not bad.

The nurse popped in. "Good morning, officer. How is my patient today?" she asked, changing things on the board as it was shift change and she would be the one to help through out the next few hours.

Smiling softly, she nodded toward Jace. "She's good, I think." then she looked at the kid with purple hair. "Yes?"

Surprising, even herself, she barely nodded. She was feeling decent. She had a touch of a headache still, and she was a tad achy, but she felt better than she had in a long time. Still not voicing herself, she rested back, nodding or shaking her head when the nurse asked her questions.

Once the nurse was gone, she turned once more. "You gonna be okay today?"

Not changing her expression, she waited a few moments before finally nodding.

"Alright, well I'll see you later, I just wanted to let you know I'm still thinking about you." and she turned and walked out, as to not crowd her. That was going to be this kid's ticket. Giving her space to be herself, without feeling bad for it.

Staring after the blond, she didn't keep her eyes off the door for a long time. She was thinking about her? Who were these people? People didn't think about her. Nobody cared about her. People pretended all day long, but then the truth came out when the next person took her in and then set the rules, which she admittedly, would disgustedly follow every rule ever given to her. She should have just run away when she got the chance. She had a better chance of making it out there on her own anyway.

Resting back now, biting her lip from her shoulder hurting and determined not to make a sound, she found herself falling asleep before she even realized it.

* * *

A knock sounded a bit later and she opened dazed eyes to a very familiar and irritated man standing over her bed. Dammit. Kendallman.

"Surprised you're here still." he spouted off smugly.

She stared at him.

"You can't pull that silent shit with me, Jace. I've known you too long. What were you doing out there?"

But she continued to stare.

"You know I'll get it out of you."

She couldn't stand when he tried to intimidate her. He always had. Had always been convinced she was nothing but trouble. He'd never given her a chance to be anything but. Hell, maybe he was right. Maybe she was nothing but trouble. No one else believed she would amount to anything. Looking away, she still didn't say a word.

"Come on, Jace. What were you doing out there? She seems to think you saved her life. But we both know the truth, don't we? You've always had a problem with authority. You've always hated cops. So why did you take her down? Was she walking up on a drug deal? Were you tagging another bench?"

Blinking rapidly to keep the tears from falling, she took a deep breath to try to stop the obviousness that she was getting upset. Her eyes went to the door as she worried her bottom lip.

"Blondie's not here to intervene for you this time, kid."

"No, but her wife is." came out from behind him, almost forcefully.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Alright guys! Chapter 5 is finally here! Finally slowed down enough that I was able to stop and write! Hope you guys enjoy! Thanks for all the likes/follows/reviews! I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far. With no further adieu ... Chapter 5!**

Turning, he spotted the darker skinned woman, with her hair tied back. She was dressed in a pair of flared out pants with a plain blue button down shirt, and had her purse on her shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, what are you doing in here?"

Straightening himself out to seem more intimidating, he looked down at the woman that was clearly a foot shorter than he was. "I've been through more than you would care to know with this kid. I came to get the whole story as to what exactly happened yesterday."

Not moving her position, she inhaled sharply. "She saved an officer's life yesterday. So why are you, another officer, trying to get her to change her story?"

"Because she doesn't like cops. There's no way she intentionally saved her life."

"Well..." and she stopped and smiled. "I can see why she wouldn't like you. But to say she doesn't like all cops is probably a bit presumptuous on your part, don't you think?"

Clearly flustered, he shook his head. "You two have no clue what you're in for with this girl. She's trouble."

Jace swallowed. He'd told Stef the same thing the day before. The woman surprised her again, just like Stef had, and made her way between herself and the officer.

"I guess then that's for us to decide, isn't it?"

"You're in for a rough go if you try to take her on. Good luck with it, is all I can tell you."

She made an irritated noise after he walked out the door and turned to look back at the kid, who was now clearly shaken. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and shook her head. Grabbing her phone, she started to dial her wife. "Just a second, sweetie." and she settled in as Stef answered.

"Hey. Um...who is Kendallman?"

"Oh tell me he didn't."

"He was in here, trying to get her to admit she was up to no good yesterday."

"Son of a...alright, look, give me a few minutes, I'm going to see what I can do on this end. We need to get her somewhere she's not going to be bothered. She needs some place safe."

Taking a breath, she let it out through her nose. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Just temporary right?" she asked, _knowing_ that the same conversation took place with their two newest charges.

"Do you want to call Bill?"

"I will, yes. You talk to her. Is she alright?"

"She will be. I'll keep you posted."

"Alright, love. I'll talk to you later."

Putting her phone in her pocket, she sat down. "You're going to stay with Stef and I when you get out of here, until we can find a more permanent solution. We're fosters and it's a safe place."

Biting her bottom lip, she was unsure of how she felt about things. A safe place? Did such a thing exist? Nodding her head up and down, she didn't ask the questions she had. She simply rested back. Both of these women had just swooped into her life and had made her consider the fact that not everyone was bad, and not every person wanted something from her. She closed her eyes. Was she actually entertaining that thought?

Lena cleared her throat. "So, I was able to get you into Senior classes. I think, that if we do this right, you can probably graduate this year."

Wait...seriously? Why would anyone...no one had ever done anything for her. Or pushed her for that matter. And now this woman wanted her to excel in something, and not only wanted her to, but looked like she actually believed she could.

Shaking her head softly and smiling, she half giggled. "Sorry. School is my forte, so I tend to get really excited about it sometimes. You're probably still trying to deal with Officer Jerk-Wad back there. I think I'm glad I showed up when I did. I was debating on either taking an early lunch, or just waiting." then her eyes turned warmer than they had already been. "I'm glad I decided to take lunch early. Unfortunately, I can't stay long, but I'm going to talk to your nurses to see when you can be busted out of this place. We'll pick you up if one of us isn't already here."

Her expression was curious. "Who are you people?" she voiced quietly, after a long silence.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, unsure of what she was asking.

Letting her breath out of her nose, her brow furrowed. "You...believe in me."

Nodding, she knew where it was going. But she wasn't going to push it either and scare her away. She wanted Jace to talk about how she was feeling. "Yes. So what's your question?"

"Nobody...no one...everyone else thinks..." and she stopped, unable to get out what she was trying to.

Leaning back, she threw her foot up over her knee. "You know, seems to me, most people tend to make assumptions, without finding out the truth in situations or about people, and it causes unfair assessments in a lot of cases."

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she shook her head. "Why do people do that?"

"I haven't figured that one out myself, sweetie. But, I can promise you that neither myself, nor my wife, will ever just make assumptions about anything. We don't with any of our kids, we wont with anyone else that happens to cross our paths."

She said nothing else as the nurse came in and checked her over real well. "Well, young lady. You should be good to go this afternoon. Once the doctor okay's it, you can go home."

Standing up before the girl got uncomfortable, she cleared her throat. "Alright, well, I've got to run, but I'll be back here about three o'clock?" then she glanced at the nurse. "Is that about right?"

She nodded. "If the doctor says she can go home, you'll know by then."

"Great." and she grabbed her purse. Reaching out, she grabbed the kids hand and squeezed softly. "I'll see you this afternoon. Don't worry, I promised you, you're safe with us."

Finally voicing how she felt, she closed her eyes once again. "I'm never safe with anyone."

The pain in the kid's eyes was almost enough to make her cry herself. "Well, you are with us. See you at three."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yay! Chapter 6 is here! Hope everyone enjoys! A longer one this time. Keep on with the reviews! :)**

Standing at the doorway, Callie wondered who this girl was. Marianna was smiling because she realized she'd known her from school, Jesus and Brandon looked open for anything and her brother seemed to take to her. Was she the only one that was wary of this girl that no one knew?

Stef met eyes with her eldest daughters and walked over to stand beside her. She wrapped her arm around her gently. "It's going to be okay."

Biting her bottom lip, she nodded.

With her arm around the new kid, Lena closed the front door. "Everyone, this is Jace. Jace, this is Brandon, Jesus, Marianna, Callie, you know Stef and then this is Jude."

She stared, swallowing hard. This was a mistake. She should have just run. The one girl was the one from school that had talked and talked about her mom being a cop. The other girl looked at her like she was going to stick a knife in everyone's back and then walk away. The boys looked indifferent except the young one. He seemed to be intrigued with her.

Stef cleared her throat. "Alright everyone, let's make some room here and let her get through the door."  
She didn't move until Lena squeezed her arm gently. "Come on. Lets set you down here on the couch until we can get everything settled."

The girl simply nodded as she was lead to the sofa and her bag was set down by her feet. Her arm was in a sling and she was still a little tender in her neck if she moved her head too fast.

"There's a throw, behind you here, and if you want to lay down, any of these pillows are comfy." and she smiled sweetly. "We get a lot of naps on this couch."

She just stared.

Letting her breath out softly, she squeezed her knee before leaving. "You are safe here, Jace. No one is going to hurt you." and she walked for the kitchen.

Watching this group of adults and kids interact, was fascinating. The cop was very affectionate toward her wife and children and while it was obvious that it was a blended family, it was equally obvious that they were indeed a family. The two women converged on the girl that stared in distrust and threw themselves into something they called a Mama Sandwich, before everyone jumped in and it turned into a mass of people all giggling, laughing and smiling.

She could see why the cop wanted to get back to her family and something she'd said about missing another family dinner, clicked with her. Then she almost instantly felt guilty for the two of them staying with her as much as they did.

Wiping the tear that sneaked down her cheek, she laid her head down on the pillow on the side opposite her wound, curled her legs up after kicking her shoes off and stared at the blank television screen. It was a few moments later when the youngest of the clan appeared in her view.

"I'm Jude." and he was curious at her lack of expression. "Do you want me to turn the TV on for you?"

Not completely knowing why, she raised up a little and nodded. "Sure." she whispered.

Smiling big, he clicked it on the set and sat down in the chair next to where she was.

Lena smiled looking at the two of them, then she glanced at Callie. Meeting eyes with her wife, she looked back at their daughter.

Stef stood beside her and slid her arm around her shoulders. "It's just temporary, sweets." she said softly into her ear.

"I know." she replied, half smiling. "I just don't like change."

She squeezed. "Oh, my love. This was just an impulse decision. But it needed to be done. She needs someplace safe. Just like you and Jude did. Yes?"

Looking into her eyes, she nodded.

Stef pulled her head into her shoulder and kissed her hair. "It'll be alright."

She was probably right. But she would still keep an eye on her. This was her family, and she was going to make sure it stayed whole.

* * *

Stef's eyes sprang open as she heard something downstairs. Practically running down the steps, she realized what it was she was hearing. The kid was staring at the window, with wide eyes and sweat and tears both, making their way down her face. Her breath was coming in short gasps and she sounded as if she couldn't get any air in. Sitting on the couch, she grabbed her shoulders. "Jace? Calm down, sweets. It's just a dream."

But she couldn't make her breathing slow.

"Jace? Look into my eyes."

She took a deep gulp in and swallowed. Something resonated in the woman's words. Her eyes connected, even though she couldn't understand what she was saying. Everything seemed to blur.

"Slow you're breathing. Come on. You can do it."

She noticed the woman breathe in deeply and she instinctively tried to do the same.

It seemed to be working. Poor kid. "That's it. Slow breaths." and she kept coaxing her to take deep breaths. Jace's eyes seemed to stay glued to hers from the moment they met, which she considered a plus. Once she was convinced everything was calm, she put her hand on her shoulder. "Better?"

Able to understand what was being said now, she nodded as her lids drifted closed in a long blink.

Unable to stop herself, she brushed the girl's hair from the front of her face and smiled. "Lay back and relax. You're alright. It's all over. Would you like something to drink?"

Swallowing she stared for a long moment. Finally she shook her head back and forth.

Stef stood and was about to walk away when she heard the small voice. "Thanks." came out in barely a whisper. Looking back down, her gaze softened even more. "It's part of being a mama, to all kids that come in and out of our lives." and she walked up the stairs, as to make sure she gave her some space and didn't make her feel uncomfortable.

Crawling into bed, she was met with a loving arm, draped over her stomach. "She alright?" Lena asked, seeming to know exactly where her wife was.

Smiling and curling into her other half even more, she let out a long sigh. "She'll be okay. I don't know for how long, but she'll be okay for a little while. She thanked me for coming down there. As if no one had ever done that for her before."

"No one probably has."

She swallowed. "Makes me want to wake up all my babies and hug them just once more, and hold them a little closer."

Lena smiled. She knew exactly what she meant. It was more rare than not when her partner was the softer of the two. She was always so tough and so strong. So together. Which was the reason they fit so perfectly together. Stef was the tough one when she had to be. But it was a nice change of pace when they had those moments in the middle of the night and she was able to let her guard down. To be the soft side of the relationship. Because it meant that she trusted her enough to let her be the strong one from time to time. Giggling, she squeezed her again. "Would you settle for me?"

Smiling and nuzzling into her wife's neck, she giggled herself. "Maybe." and they lay there for a few moments before falling gently to sleep.

The morning came with the smell of coffee drifting through the air. Turning, Stef looked at the clock on the bedside table. Six. Hearing Lena yawn, she stretched. "Callie's up early this morning."

"Mmmmm..." she grumbled before rolling out of bed. "I'll be down in a second."

Smiling, she nodded and made her way down the steps. She hoped that none of the kids had waken Jace, but she was surprised to find that the couch was completely made up, the pillow and blanket folded and laid on the corner of the sofa.

Turning from the bottom of the stair case, she noticed the kitchen was almost spotless, the dishes put away from the night before, counters wiped down and their newest ward, was now sweeping the floor. "Jace?"

Looking up at the sound of her voice, she startled slightly. "I...I'm sorry. I was trying to..." and she stuttered, clearly flustered with herself.

"Easy. You didn't do anything wrong. It just surprised me that...well I didn't expect you to be up to much today, much less cleaning the whole kitchen and starting a pot of coffee."

She swallowed, still convinced that she'd done something wrong. She'd wanted to say thanks for letting her stay there. "I...I didn't help last night."

"Well, no. But you're injured." and it hit her. "Your arm isn't in the sling."

"I was trying to sweep." she whispered in defense.

Letting out a long breath, she shook her head gently. What in the world had this kid been used to? It was almost saddening to see what she was forcing herself to do, because it seemed as though it was something she was used to doing. "Jace, you need to rest and get over your injuries before we start talking about helping."

"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt."

Had she never been given a break? Never been told it was okay to have down time? "And it may not be hurting, now. But it probably will later. You're not supposed to put any stress on that shoulder, or the muscles in your arm and neck, until it heals. A bullet does a lot of damage. Believe me." and she touched a small spot on her stomach. "This one had me down for a couple of weeks."

Biting her bottom lip, she stood straight, determined to at least finish the job. "I'm almost done." she finally whispered.

"No." she argued back a bit forceful, but still caring. Grabbing the broom gently she swept up the smile pile into the dust-pan and put both broom and dust-pan back into the cubby where they were. Pulling out one of the chairs at the breakfast bar, she nodded. "Sit. What do you want for breakfast?"

She shrugged. She opened her mouth to say something when a small frame appeared beside her. The blond's head moved toward the shuffling noise and a smile crossed her lips.

"Good morning, Jude."

He smiled. "Morning."

Looking back at the girl who was now completely subdued, she cleared her throat. "So, breakfast?" but her mouth didn't open again. Back to silence. Sighing resignedly she shook her head exasperatedly. "Jude, what do you want, sweets?"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for all the continued support and comments/likes/favorites I am getting. I hope you guys keep enjoying the story. Keep leaving those reviews and letting me know! :)**

It had been three days and the kid didn't stop for anything. She'd had to remind her to put her arm in the sling at least a dozen times, and she insisted on contributing to some extent. Which made her wonder just what she'd come from. Letting out her breath, Stef sat down next to her wife, putting her chin in her hand and her elbow propped on the table.

Sighing softly, she smiled. "Still not talking?"

She shook her head. "You?"

"No." she admitted lowly. "We were so close."

Stef nodded. "She never lets her guard down." and her eyes closed slowly as she shook her head. "We thought Callie was bad."

Both of them half laughed at that comment and Lena looked in at Jace sitting in the chair, watching Jude and Jesus play a video game. She never smiled. She never laughed. She gave half cracks, but she never really smiled. Callie still watched her like a hawk, and boy did Marianna ever try to get her to talk but as she'd stated herself the day before, very matter of fact, she talked enough for the both of them.

"How do you think she'll do in school tomorrow?"

"I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. She seemed to do okay when she started, but I wonder how long that will last in her new class schedule."

"Do you think it's a good idea?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I think it would be good for her to be challenged. And she thrives on working things out. I think she would do really well."

"Alright then, my love. We'll see what happens in the morning."

Dinner went well and night fell, as the kids all wound down and got ready for school the next day. Marianna was bouncing around and sat down next to Jace. "Are you glad to get back to school tomorrow? This week is gonna be strange with us having today off for the holiday, but I love short weeks. Don't you?"

Swallowing hard, she nodded, and gave a half hearted smile.

"It's going to be great having you around. I can't wait to see..."

"Marianna." Callie said, giggling. "Give the girl some room to breathe." then she sat herself down on the couch. "Shower's free."

Laughing and shaking her head she stuck her tongue out and made her way up the steps.

"I definitely recommend getting up early and getting a shower in the morning. There's a reason she's always the last to get ready. There will be no hot water left when she's done." and she smiled as her brother sat down beside her. Wrapping her arm around his shoulders she held him close. He was her rock. And she was his. "Hey Bud."

He smiled, looking up at his elder sibling. "Why do weekends always go by so fast? Even when they're three days."

She giggled. "I ask myself that question every Monday morning."

Yawning, he leaned over. "Goodnight."

"Night."

Looking over at the new girl, she studied her for a second. "You gonna be okay tomorrow?"

Not sure where the sincere concern seemed to be coming from, she studied her, herself. Finally deciding to answer, she nodded softly.

This girl didn't talk to anyone. She was never going to make it in school. "If you need anything, find me or Marianna. We'll both help you through it. Okay?"

Once again, her head bobbed up and down and she bit her bottom lip. She hoped she could do it. New classes were awaiting her. Lena had talked to her about the advanced classes and she wasn't sure if she was even ready for them, but the woman was confident. And if she was confident in her, then maybe she could see it in herself. Closing her eyes, she was surprised when a few moments later, a small hand brushed the hair from her face.

Lena. She smiled at her, in the warmest smile she'd ever seen. "You want to move over to the couch? The chair can give you a major kink."

Blinking quickly, she looked around and realized, she had been out for more than a few moments. No one was there but her and the older woman. "S...sorry."

"For what?" she asked softly.

"I didn't mean for you...to have to...I'm just sorry."

Letting her breath out through her nose, she shook her head, curving her lips into a small smile. "You have nothing to be sorry for in this house, Jace."

But she did. Any time she'd done something that made an inconvenience, it was bad. It was wrong, and she would be punished for it. She would find a way to make it up to Lena as soon as she could.

With that on her mind, she closed her eyes and fell quickly back to sleep, not even feeling when the blanket was being laid over her, up to her shoulder.

Making her way up the steps, she clicked the light off, making her way to bed. Yawning, she ducked under the cover with her wife. "Poor kid's never going to get comfortable."

"I know. Maybe she'll get there, eventually."

"I woke her up to move her to the couch and she apologized. For falling asleep! I just don't get how people can treat another human being like they're a...problem. I'd love to get my hands on the idiots who made her feel that way."

"Unfortunately, I see it every day." and she kissed Lena quickly on the lips before rolling over to click off the light. "Welcome to my life, my love."

* * *

She reacher hand to her wife's arm. "I'll go." Stef said, yawning. The kid had dreamed every night she'd been there and Lena had been the one to tend to her the last two nights in a row. Throwing her legs off the side of the bed, she couldn't help but think it was like having a baby in the house almost. Only instead of crying for a feeding or change, the kid was running from whatever demons chased her in the night.

Making her way quickly down the steps, she sat down on the couch and took her hands as she'd done before. "Jace? Wake up, love."

Her breath was coming in short shallow gasps and tears were streaming down her face. "I'm sorry." she whispered. "Please..." and she swallowed.

"Jace, come on. Wake up." and she grabbed her shoulders softly.

Suddenly springing awake, she sat up, flinging herself into the arms of the person sitting there.

Taken aback from the act, she didn't argue with it, she just took the girl into her arms and held her close as she cried and tried to calm herself.

"Don't let go. Please...don't let go."

"Easy, sweets. I'm not going to let go if you don't want. It was just a dream. Just a bad dream. You're alright. I'm right here. You're safe." she murmured softly into the kid's hair. She was squeezing her so tightly. What in the world had she been dreaming about. She continued to hold her and whisper to her, reinforcing that it was a safe place and she was okay.

It took her almost fifteen minutes to calm down this time, and she held on with all of her life for most of it. It wasn't until she was so tired she couldn't function, that she let go and laid back.

"That was some dream. You want to talk about it?"

Her eyes closing softly and opening after a long moment, she shook her head back and forth. "I can't."

A knowing but curious expression crossed her face. "Who says you can't?"

Her head shook back and forth softly. "It doesn't matter." she answered sadly. "I just can't."

Unable to stop herself, she leaned forward and hugged her lightly. "Maybe another day."

There wouldn't be time for another day though. She'd been told from the beginning this was temporary. It was hard for her not to connect with these people though. They were all so nice with her and they all seemed like they actually cared. But what did she know, honestly? Everyone before who had seemed nice, weren't.

Stef made her way up the staircase and into bed.

"How is she?"

"She's alright. She said she couldn't talk about her dreams. I think I'm going to hit Bill up for everything on this girl, first thing in the morning."

"I can't say as I blame you."

Then a small sad smile curled her lips lightly. "When she woke up she actually reached out and hugged me." then her brow furrowed.

"But...?"

"She held on for dear life. And then asked me not to let go. I asked her what her dream was about and she said she couldn't tell me."

"She couldn't, or she wouldn't?"

"No she wont. Because she's scared to death of someone or something if she does. She's honestly afraid of what would happen if she did, so she feels like she can't."

Taking a deep breath, she let it out softly. "So what do we do about that?"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:**

**Hey all ... I'm just letting ya'll know, I'm not stopping writing. I'm dealing with a lot. I've been sick and have been dealing with my mom-in-law having a test done to find she has a tumor in her brain that they don't know if it's even treatable. I have a lot going on. I'm definitely not stopping. Any prayers would be greatly appreciated. It's going to get a lot worse before it's all said and done. So please, please bare with me, I promise I'm working on the next chapter. It's just going very slowly. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys. Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy, I know it's not my best work. :) Thanks for the encouragement and everything. I definitely appreciate the prayers. Anyway...here's Official Chapter 8. **

Her heart beat almost as much as it had the first day. She wasn't sure what she was so worried about or scared of. Maybe because now, someone was actually expecting her to excel. Someone was expecting her to make it. To make something of herself.

Somehow, when people said to her that she was a freak, and she would never make anything of herself, it made her worry that they were telling the truth. A part of her despised the fact that she suddenly seemed to care. By the end of the day, she was ready to escape. Not paying attention to where she was going, she bumped into someone on accident.

"Watch where you're going! Freak!" and they pushed her hard against her injured arm, causing her to bump into the locker. Closing her eyes, she bit her lip to keep from crying. Lord help any one of them who said something and thought those tears were because of her feelings being hurt. Steeling herself, she stood and walked away, hearing the off handed comments behind her, but not making an effort to let them know that she even cared.

This was why she didn't talk. One, she knew it would feed into what people were saying. Two, it would simply give them more reason to pick. She knew when she got upset, what she wanted to say never came out the way it was supposed to. So she didn't even try. Making her way to one of the picnic tables outside of the school, she sat down, staring out at the ocean beyond the yard.

Completely lost in thought, she jumped when a hand went to her shoulder. "Jace?" and she sat down. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. You okay?"

Staring at the woman, she didn't answer one way or another.

"I saw you come out here, and I heard a little bit about what those kids were saying."

She still wouldn't talk.

"Well, I know I'm 'Just the principal', but if you need to talk, you can come to me too. Okay?"

Looking up, she gave the smallest nod. She seemed to be okay with that but she stayed right where she was. It was actually nice to have someone just sit there, and not expect anything out of her. Part of her wanted the woman to say anything just to break the silence. But another part was perfectly content with the quiet. She didn't expect what happened next.

Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed a candy-bar she'd gotten out of the machine just prior to hearing the kids. The king sized Snickers would melt soon if she didn't eat it. Opening it, she took one of the pieces, then handed the kid the wrapper containing the other half. "Want some chocolate? Always makes me feel better."

She stared at the woman for a long moment before taking it. No one ever gave her anything before the cops family took her in. And to say she didn't trust it was definitely an understatement. But there was something in her face that told her that there was nothing behind the offer except just to offer it. She couldn't remember the last time she had a candy-bar. She shook her head internally. Stupid. It hardly mattered. Something as simple as that wasn't a new beginning. Though admittedly a part of her wondered if it could be.

Looking at the poor kid, she noticed the small smile and couldn't help the light of hope. She'd been so quiet, but the girl was so smart. She just needed a chance. Maybe that was why she'd wanted to check on her after those kids said what they did. "I love being a principal, but sometimes, these kids make me wonder why I do it."

Was she really just admitting that to her? Letting her breath out through her nose, she didn't stop herself from looking at her curiously. "Why?"

Wow. The kid did talk. She'd almost thought Lena was nuts when she'd said that. Studying her curious gaze, her eyes softened. "Because kids are mean. Not all kids, obviously, you're definitely not, not that I've seen anyway. And most kids on an individual basis, are good kids. But you get them in groups and..." and she shook her head. "Kids are like people I guess. Get them together and one of them can lead the masses." Standing up, she looked at the kid one last time before looking at her watch.

"Well...break time's up. You want me to let Lena know you're out here?"

Nodding this time, instead of voicing her answer, she looked down quickly at the wrapper still held in her hand. Looking up at her she caught her smile.

"You're welcome." and she winked, walking back toward the building.

* * *

Looking at her phone, she answered it. "Hey, love."

"Hey. I heard back from Bill."

"Okay?" and she heard the hesitation. "Stef what is it?"

"You remember what that guy did to Jude and Callie when we first got them?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, well Jace grew up that way. Her dad killed her mom in front of her, then he died by suicide by cop. From there she's been bounced from place to place and not a single one of them has been very good to her from one reason or another."

"Poor kid. It's no wonder she doesn't talk." and she looked out the window seeing their new found charge and Monte talking. An idea struck her suddenly. "Don't let me forget to run something by you later on tonight. But right now, I want to talk to you more about Jace. How many homes has she been in?"

Looking at the paper, she shook her head. "Thirteen."

"Thirteen!?" she repeated incredulously.

"She apparently has a habit of getting into trouble and running away, and people don't want to deal with it."

"I'm sure that's not every case."

"Well and I'm sure that she has a different story too."

"This has to stop. Poor kid's never going to trust anyone at this rate."

"Yeah. It makes sense she's having nightmares too. There's no telling exactly what they're about, but from her parents alone, I can only imagine."

"Well, she's with us now."

"Yes, she is."

Lena watched as her boss made her way back in and Jace dropped her head. "Alright, well I'm going to get back to her. I'll see you at home?"

"You will, love."

"Love you."

"Love you."

Putting the receiver down, her superior knocked lightly on the door. Looking up, she smiled. "Hi."

"Hi. I just come back from sitting with Jace. She's a good kid. Really quiet though."

"Yeah well, she's been through a lot so..."

Nodding, she glanced out the window at the girl. "Listen, I checked on her because I was raiding the vending machine earlier and I heard a few kids calling her names and picking on her."

Lena's heart fell. "What? What were they saying?"

She shook her head. "They were being kids. But it was...she never fought back. She didn't even respond. And one of them pushed her into her locker. He's going to be suspended as soon as class gets back in from lunch. But I wanted to check on her before anything."

Letting her breath out slowly, her brows knitted as she stared. "Thank you. You didn't have to check on her."

Nodding, she smiled softly. "Yes. I did."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for all the patience guys! I'm working at it and have you a longer chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it, honestly, it's kind of one of my favorite Stef/Jace moments. Please review!**

Her attention was on the kid in the back seat, who had no sooner talked to any of them as herself. She wasn't even sure if she was bothered by what the other kids had said to her. It bothered her to not be able to read her expression. The drive home was full of conversation between everyone, except her. She stared out the window the entire way.

She watched her most of the afternoon while she took to the senior grade homework and finished it quickly, as if not even thinking about it. She sat gingerly down on the couch and stared at the blank television.

Sitting on the other end, Lena smiled. "Hey. How was your first day of class, as a senior?"

She looked up, but didn't answer. And she wasn't upset when the eldest son, came trotting down the steps. "Senior? You're a senior?"

Lena looked up and smiled at him. "As of today she is. She qualified with the entrance exam, so I made a suggestion and Monte approved it."

Monte had approved it? That must have been why she'd felt the need to come out there and comfort her this afternoon. Surely the woman didn't feel guilty for her being bullied by the other kids. It was no more her fault than Lena's for enrolling her.

He grinned. "Welcome to the club, genius!"

He'd said it so casually, she for the first time didn't take it as a negative thing. It was strange. Keeping a straight face, she looked away after a moment so that he didn't think she was mad at him for anything. The woman must have noticed it though because she inhaled and looked at her son.

"What do you need, B?"

"Oh, I wanted to see if you can remind mom that I'm going to practice early instead of late tomorrow because of the recital."

She nodded. "I will."

"Thanks." and he headed for the steps.

"Sorry. Where were we? Oh yes...how was your 'unofficial' first day?"

Jace stared, not pretending she didn't know that Monte surely told Lena about the exchange. Shrugging, she looked down at her hands.

"Do you have any homework?"

Before staring for a moment, she finally shook her head.

"Okay. Well, you tell me if you need anything at all. Dinner should be done soon if you want to help set the table?"

Actually...she did. It'd be nice to feel useful. Stef had stopped her from doing pretty much anything because of her arm being in the sling, and she could tell the rest of the group was starting to get tired of carrying her weight.

She stopped and took the sling off and grabbed the plates. Damn her shoulder still wasn't in great shape. Either that or the plates were heavy. Which was possible as they were ceramic and full sized plates, but she doubted that was actually it.

Biting her lip, she made her way to the table, using everything she had to make sure that she didn't slap the plates on the table. Man it hurt. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly and used her good hand to spread them out on the table. Turning, she noticed that Lena had laid out a handful of silverware. Grabbing it, she turned back around and noticed the blond, staring at her, still in uniform from the days work.

"Where's your sling?"

Setting her jaw, she stared at her, not saying anything.

Lena looked up. "Oh my gosh. I didn't even notice, I'm sorry."

Stef shook her head. "She knows better. And she knew you wouldn't be paying attention." then her gaze went to the kid. "Didn't you?"

Standing up straighter, she didn't say a word.

"Jace, you're going to hurt yourself if you don't start taking care of your shoulder."

Swallowing hard, she listened closely and determined no one was close. "I'm not pulling my weight."

Sighing heavily, her gaze softened toward the kid. She'd been fighting that very thing since she'd arrived and hadn't let up once. "Honey, you can't be expected to pull your weight when you're injured."

Hesitating, she once more made sure no one would show. Speaking softly, she argued. "They're getting tired of me not pulling my own. It's not fair."

Lena stared in disbelief. Never before had she seen a kid, say it wasn't fair that they _couldn't_ do work and chores. "Has anyone said anything to you?"

She shook her head. No one had mouthed a word. But she could see in looks they gave, and sighs they heaved. They were getting tired of it. "It's only fair." she whispered.

"Jace..."

"You have to let me help. It's only fair." she got out a little louder, but not by much.

Stef noticed her bite her lip. "You've already hurt yourself, haven't you?"

She didn't answer. Instead she kept putting the silverware on the plates.

What was it going to take to get it through to this kid?

* * *

She woke up suddenly, and this time, she was surprised no one was around. She must have been quiet about her dreaming for once. Though she doubted that. But maybe...she heard a creak. Dammit, she hadn't been quiet at all apparently.

Not moving, she let her breath out slowly until she heard something in the kitchen. Curiosity piquing her interest, she lifted her head up and turned over quickly. She realized suddenly that she moved too fast and turned over on her shoulder, shifting it and biting her lip to keep from screaming, but couldn't stop the whimper that escaped.

Locking eyes with the girl, she sat there at the table, waiting for her to wake. Though she didn't expect her to let on she had any pain. She'd been watching her dream for almost ten minutes and she never got very loud once. But she'd heard something and was checking on the kids when she heard the small groan, indicating she was dreaming. Seeming innocent, she nodded, indicating to the kid she'd seen her. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you, just had a sweet tooth." then she lifted the mug. "Hot chocolate?"

Staring, untrusting, she didn't say one way or another, she simply sat up on the couch. She had to admit, hot chocolate did sound good. It'd been a long time. The last time she'd had it...she squeezed her eyes shut. She wouldn't think of a time when her family was whole. Before her dad killed her mom. Before she was a disgrace to her family name. Before something she said out of anger caused the only person in her life that mattered, to die.

Deciding finally to stand, she made her way slowly as she was still trying to wake up. Stef stood and got a mug down out of the cupboard. Setting it down, she poured some of the warm liquid, right out of the pan. Then she put the pan down on the stove and sat back down across the table. "Another nightmare?"

Her brows knitted, she chewed her bottom lip. She needed to work on that. That was one of her biggest tells. Finally she shrugged and picked up the liquid holder, noticing her hand shaking when she got it yay high. Hoping the woman hadn't noticed, she set it down quickly then jumped at the chance to keep her from seeing anything was wrong. "It's always the same."

Letting her breath out through her nose, she studied her for a moment. "You're very good at deflecting. Why don't we just deal with one issue at a time. While I would love it if you'd actually open up about your dreams, your shoulder is a bit more important. You hurt yourself tonight, didn't you?"

She shook her head softly.

"Then why is it shaking when you tried to pick up your drink?"

"Did you give it to me to see if I would prove a point?"

Boy she really didn't trust anyone.

Closing her eyes, Jace shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Leaning back she sighed. "Why are you sorry?"

"You're mad."

"I'm not mad. I've just honestly never had my motives questioned when I genuinely was trying to help figure out what's wrong. It makes me a little sad to know that you've been through so much that you would think everyone is just trying to get something out of you." then she took a drink from her cup. "No. I didn't give you the hot chocolate to see if you would shake from your injury. I genuinely wanted to know if you wanted some. I noticed it as soon as you picked it up, but I'm a police officer. I've been trained to notice little things. And not just physical, little things, either."

She knew she was talking about her emotional scars, and she'd been right. She did deflect, often. Swallowing hard, she picked the ceramic vessel up and took a drink, with her other hand this time. "I was pushed into a locker today by a few kids. I hit my shoulder."

The initial question of whether or not she was wearing her sling instantly jumped to mind, but she knew that wasn't the time to ask that question. Leaning forward she asked her, "Did you tell Lena?"

She shook her head. "Monte saw it."

"I'm sure setting the table didn't help earlier either, I know how heavy my plates are when there's just the seven of us."

Her shoulders rose and fell. "It's fine."

Stef studied her again. "How bad is it hurting? Be honest."

"It's fine." she said quietly once more.

"Do you need something for pain?"

Her head shook back and forth.

Deciding to change the subject herself to try and get her to open up a little bit, she softened her gaze. "So what do you think? It's my grandmother's recipe."

This time she nodded. "It's very good. Thank you."

"Well, it's about time for me to go back to bed. I snuck down because I heard something. Turns out it was just one of the kids in the bathroom. But then I wanted something warm to drink. Thanks for sharing." and she lifted the concoction one more time before taking the last swig. She stood up and looked at the kid, now completely confused. Adding to it, she blew her away completely when she leaned in and kissed the top of her head and started to walk away. "I'll get the dishes in the morning."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for bearing with the delay in updates, it's been a mad house around here with my daughter catching chicken pox on top of my mother in law, who...thank you for all of your prayers...is doing better. She still not completely out of the woods, but she seems to be doing much better. Here's an even longer chapter yet, hope you guys all enjoy. Please keep reviewing and letting me know how you like it! :)**

It had been three days, and she'd no sooner gotten over the cop kissing the top of her head as she would have if she'd slapped her. She was finally getting better with her shoulder and was able to leave her sling off for longer periods of time. The blond had been carrying her back and forth to physical therapy and she knew the kids were getting tired of the special treatment.

Walking back into the house, she caught the glance from the oldest son. He smiled, but his eyes shrugged her off, as if she was becoming an inconvenience. Stef had missed two of his practices while she'd been tending her and she knew it was wearing on him.

So it made her honestly weary when both moms had a date night. It had been planed long before she came into the picture so she wasn't going to say word one about being nervous, but it was there. She smiled as they made it out the door and told everyone to behave.

She felt like an outcast. Especially when everyone wound up gathering in the kitchen, all whispering while she was on the couch. She heard a few comments coming from the group that ranged anywhere from "She never does anything around here." to "She uses her arm as a crutch." and even "Moms let her get away with everything."

Glad she was alone as a couple of tears dripped down her cheeks, she made up her mind she was going to make sure they didn't feel that way any more after tonight. Hell she couldn't blame them. She'd known it was coming, and she also knew they were all probably just frustrated because they had been pulling her weight. She hadn't really been allowed to do much of anything, while they all did dishes and clean-up, laundry, bathrooms, keeping their own rooms clean, cleaning up the living room where she slept...standard chores. Standing up, to make her way into the kitchen, they all hushed and pretended to be playing a game.

"Hey. You wanna join in?" a small voice came from the bunch. Shaking her head, she looked at the lot of them. None of them knew she'd heard anything, and honestly, looking at it now, she definitely couldn't blame any of them.

Remaining silent, she just grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water, lifting it and grinning slightly as she made her way back into the living room.

Glad they hadn't said anything, she clicked the television on to drown her thoughts and fell asleep. When the moms walked in a couple of hours later, they were laughing and had clearly had a great time.

Stef woke her up smiling sweetly, checking on her arm. "Hey, sweets. It's kind of early for you to be asleep. You feeling alright?"

Not answering directly, she blinked sleepily. She was glad the woman had woke her up, because now she could put things into motion. Tonight, she was going to stop being a burden. Stop being the tag along. Stop being everyone's responsibilities but her own.

* * *

Damn she was tired. She left the house at around one in the morning. For the last few mornings, she actually hadn't had any nightmares, so she wasn't worried about them discovering she wasn't there immediately. She'd cleaned the entire kitchen up and folded her blankets, setting them very neatly on the pillows, as well as folding all the clothes they'd given her and put them in the laundry room before leaving. She owed them that.

But by now the sun was coming up and she was exhausted. She was almost back to her place in the streets. She didn't need anyone anyway. The moms had been so nice in letting her stay, but the time had come for her to leave. She'd worn out her welcome.

There was one place that she stayed in her off times, and she was reluctant to get to it, but knew at this moment, she deserved to be there. It was an abandoned warehouse, with rooms on almost all four floors. No one wanted to walk all the way up to the fourth floor though, because it meant climbing two more sets of stairs, and there was no air or heat, so it was always hotter or colder than the rest of the building. Instead of windows for some sort of insulation, there were four empty panes and there was always some sort of cross breeze, on top of there being only one room on the fourth floor, the rest was wide open space.

But finding her small spot in the room that looked like it had been an office at one time, she smiled noticing her blanket and pillow were untouched, and just as she'd left them the last time.

She knew she was going to have to lay low for a while from both Tommy D, as well as the police. She was confident though that even Kendallman didn't know about this place. She could most likely find food at night so that she could avoid being seen during the daylight hours, but she knew she'd have to be careful or she'd wind up shot again.

Laying down on the floor, she covered herself lightly with the blanket and closed her eyes, wondering if they'd figured out she was gone yet.

* * *

Stef stared at the couch and then looked into the kitchen seeing it was immaculate. Hustling up the steps to her wife, who was still in bed, she burst through the door.

Lena came to full alertness quickly and sat up. "What's wrong?"

"She's gone."

"What? How do you know?"

"She cleaned the entire kitchen and folded up her blankets and pillows."

"Well what about her stuff? Her clothes and things?"

Looking into her wife's eyes sadly, she shrugged and let out a long sigh. "Everything that we gave her is washed, folded and on top of the dryer."

"No." she whispered softly. "Where could she have gone?"

"I don't know. But wherever she is, she's alone, with nothing." and she grabbed her phone. Dialing quickly she spoke with urgency into the phone, issuing an APB for the kid, remembering what happened the last time one of her kids went missing.

Lena started to stay something, but stopped when she remembered the argument they'd had about their eldest daughter. They were officially fostering her, and if they found her, there would undoubtedly be repercussions for disappearing, but at this moment, she wasn't in a position to argue with her. The kid was still recovering from the gun shot wound and Stef was right. She had nothing on her person if she gave back everything they'd given her, except the clothes on her back.

Putting the phone back down, she realized she was shaking. "We need to have a family meeting. I need to know what happened."

"Honey, there's no telling what was going through her mind when she left."

She knew that, but the officer in her wouldn't let it rest. Making her way out into the hallway, she knocked on doors and brought all the kids to the kitchen sitting down as she stared at five sets of sleepy eyes.

"Sorry to call this meeting."

Brandon piped up. "Why isn't Jace in here? Isn't she part of the family now?"

Both moms could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

Clearing her throat, Stef spoke up. "She's gone. No one noticed when they came down that she wasn't on the couch?"

They all looked around, still clearly half asleep.

"Now, I need to know, did she say something...anything last night that would make you think she was going to leave?"

There was a resounding 'No' around the table and she nodded.

"Did you guys do something? Leave her out of something?" and she noticed as each one of them got guilty looks on their faces except Jude. "Do you guys want to explain what happened?"

No one spoke up.

Looking at Marianna, knowing that of any one of them, she would be the one to talk, and she locked eyes with her and cleared her throat. "Yes?"

"Well last night, we were all at the kitchen table playing a game and we were just talking..."

"Talking about...?" Lena asked.

Breaking in, Jesus spoke. "We were just venting. We didn't mean anything by it. We should have been quieter I guess."

"Been quieter about what?"

Finally Callie spoke. "Everyone was just talking about our chores and responsibilities around here."

"Chores and responsibilities?" she prompted.

"We were just frustrated. None of us meant anything."

"Anything about _what_?" Lena cut in again.

"Having to clean up after her and do her laundry and dishes and everything, but she doesn't have to do anything." Brandon finally answered.

Stef was so frustrated she could have screamed. The one thing that this kid had been fighting her about, was the one thing that four out of five of her kids were 'venting' about the night before. She was sure that Jace had heard them and had taken action. It made sense now. "Well that would explain then why she did all of her clothes we've given her, folded them and put them neatly on the dryer, cleaned the entire kitchen, including the dishes you left in the sink last night because we weren't home and folded her blanket, putting it with her pillow on the couch."

Now, every kid, including Jude, hung their heads, sorry for everything that they'd said and what came of it. "What can we do?" the youngest's small voice resonated.

"I don't know. I have an APB out for her and I'm going to get dressed in a few minutes and see if I can find her where she first took a bullet for me." and she left the room.

More composed, the dark headed woman took a deep breath. "Well...I guess since we're all up, we should start with breakfast, get dressed, and see what Mom needs us to do. Okay?"


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! Giving you a little snippet. It's only one part but it's a bit of a cliffhanger for you. Kind of a thanks for hanging on as long as you have and stuck with me this whole way, as well as all of the new follows/favorites I've gotten. You guys are incredible. So without further ado...**

Feeling something beneath her, she knew instantly it was a tremor. It was typical for San Diego, but this one seemed a bit stronger. And it lasted for a bit longer than most. It startled her a bit when she actually saw some of the dust knock off the ceiling and fall toward the floor.

This one was different. This one was a precursor, she could just feel it. That being said, she knew she needed to get up and probably find somewhere closer to the front door, in case another one hit. Not putting it much past thought though, she tiredly closed her eyes and fell back asleep.

Stef had met Mike and they were both in uniform and back to the spot the kid had been shot. She'd known it wasn't her normal area, but she was desperate to find Jace. So when the ground shook, it made it instantly, that much more important to bring her home.

Looking over at her ex-husband, she stopped.

"Did you feel that?" he asked.

"That wasn't normal. There's more coming."

Not arguing with her about it, he simply nodded and kept his eyes open.

Dammit where could she be? They searched for almost two hours and had managed to get almost a mile and a half from the squad car before turning around.

"Stef...I'm sorry."

She was frustrated and ready to throw her hands up when the ground shook again. This time though, it was a lot harder and lasted for a little bit longer. Hard to stand, she grabbed onto the light pole she was right next to and reached out for Mike's hand to steady him as well.

By the time it was over, she could tell that most everything was still standing, but they both had a job to do as soon as they saw people come running from an old warehouse, hearing the building creaking as they all exited.

"Is there anyone else in there?"

One lady turned to the woman. "I think there's some girl in there still, but she's all the way up on the fourth floor."

Locking eyes with her partner, he didn't even have to question her immediate thought. Ducking into the building, she instantly ran for the stairwell as she worried when the building started making noises again. It had long been condemned, and by the looks of it, with good reason.

She was two flights up when the ground rumbled again and the building started to come down around her. "Jace!" she yelled.

Trying to keep from falling, she heard her name being called and noticed instantly it was the cop. How had she found her? Slipping, her body rolled into a ball and down the steps, landing hard at the bottom of the flight.

She laid eyes on the kid and let out a breath of relief for a brief moment until she realized she was bleeding from her head and the building was still falling. Adrenalin bursting through, she swooped down and picked Jace up by her upper body and held her up until the deafening noise stopped.

She knew that there was no way they could go anywhere until someone got in around them and dug to them, so she slid down the wall laying Jace down in her lap, so she could assess the situation. She was dead weight for a few moments but actually started to come around a bit. Lord she hoped the girl would actually talk to her this time.

Shifting slightly, she looked down. "Jace? Sweets, talk to me."

"Stef." her voice came out in a strained whisper. "What...what happened?"

"There was an earthquake. It looks like you tumbled down the stairwell."

"Where are we?" and she coughed.

The blond could instantly hear the wheezing as she talked. "We're still in the warehouse."

"We have to...get...out..." she tapered off as she started to lose consciousness again.

"Hey, come on, Jace. Stay with me."

She moaned in protest. She was trying to stay awake, but it was really hard.

She was unconscious. Pushing the button on her walkie that was still on her shoulder, she breathed in. "Mike?"

"Stef!" she heard breathless. "Where are you? We're trying to get to you but the whole building is on the verge of collapse."

"We're in the stairwell. We're okay for now, but I don't know how long we will be."

"Was it Jace in there?"

"Yeah. She's in rough shape. I'm not sure what all her injuries are but she's in and out of consciousness."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm alright for the moment."

He knew it was sketchy to be where she was, though looking at the building now, he could tell that the stairwell was literally the only thing that hadn't sustained any damage, as of yet. "Hang tight, we're trying to get to you."

"Mike, be careful. This thing ain't over yet." and she held tight to the girl in her arms as the ground shook again.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks for hanging in there guys. Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long, wanted to make it a little longer! Thanks for all of the follows and favorites, it means a lot and keeps me going. Really enjoying the reviews too! Anyway, here's the next Chapter! Hope you enjoy! :)**

When her eyes opened again, it was completely dark. "Stef?"

"Jace? Hang on, honey. They're digging us out."

Hearing the rattle in her own chest, she coughed. "How long have we been here?"

Her wheezing was getting worse. She'd listened to it progress over the last couple of hours and knew there was nothing she could do about it. "About three hours. There was another earthquake and the stairwell collapsed around us. I'm trying to conserve my flashlight."

She was trying not to panic, because she knew that it would only make her breathing worse, but it was hard.

Stef shifted, wincing.

She could feel the woman stiffen. Taking her mind off of the current situation, concern laced her voice. "Are you okay?"

Clearing her throat, she took a deep breath. "I'm alright. The last quake brought a beam down on my leg. I'm pretty sure nothings broken, but I can't really go anywhere until its off of me."

Wishing she could see anything, she decided not to move since she couldn't tell a whole lot about their situation. Closing her eyes, she shook her head slowly. "I'm so sorry about this, Stef. You shouldn't be here right now."

Squeezing her arm a little tighter in a hug, where she was still holding the kid, she laid her cheek on the top of her head. "Neither should you. Why are you here, Sweets?"

Jace hesitated.

She could tell she was holding her breath.

Deciding enough was enough, she inhaled deeply, and let it out through her nose. She swallowed hard. "It's what I deserve." the pained voice, came out in a whisper.

"No." she replied softly. "I thought things were going okay." then she let her breath out. "The kids told us about talking last night at the table."

"They had every right." she said, barely above a whisper. "I wasn't pulling my own, and look at how much you've missed out on your kids things, because you were carting me around. All my life, I've been a burden, to people that I didn't even care about. I wont do that to you."

"Baby. You can't honestly think you're a burden." and she pulled her fingers softly through the girl's hair. "Not to me, or Lena."

"That's just it. You've both been so nice to me." then her voice got a little quieter. "Your kids deserve better."

"And what about you? You feel as though you deserve, what? Less? Nothing at all?"

Not stopping the tear that dripped over her nose and onto the woman's uniform shirt, she sniffed and then held her breath when she started hearing the building creaking again as debris fell from above them somewhere.

Stef could feel her panicking. "Easy, Sweets. Watch your breathing."

This time, she inhaled, wheezing worse than before. "I'm...trying."

Holding her closer, she rubbed her hand up and down her arm to try to give her some sort of comfort. She knew if the girl continued to panic, she would increase her breathing issues. "Come on, Mike." she said softly to herself. Suddenly she could feel the small body on top of hers shaking. "We're going to be alright, Jace. You know that, right?"

There was no response.

"Jace?"

"I'm...scared...Stef." she managed to get out. She was trying not to talk because the more she did, the harder it was to breathe. She wasn't even sure why she was admitting that to her, but it was there anyway. Most times, no one cared regardless of how she felt.

"I know. It'll be alright. I promise." she said, hoping and praying she was right. "The building just shifted a little. They know we're in here and where we are. They're coming for us. I promise."

* * *

It was another hour, and she was almost asleep before she heard something that resembled digging, from one of the sides of her wall. She clicked the flashlight on briefly to look and see if she could tell where it was coming from, as well as to look down at the body in her lap still. "Jace? Sweets, wake up. They're almost to us."

She didn't respond. Her breathing had become more and more shallow as time had ticked by, and she'd noticed her grow weaker. She'd tried to keep her going as much as she could, but the kid just seemed to dwindle by the minute.

She heard a voice scream her name. "Mike!" she yelled back, glad that while her leg was stuck, her voice was working perfectly fine.

"Stef, we're almost to you! Just hang on!"

"Mike, I'm stuck! But Jace needs help!" she said through the rubble. It was a couple of minutes later that she heard other voices and could see light. "Mike!"

"Hang on, Stef. How are you? Lena's been blowing me up."

"I'm fine! How are the kids and my wife?"

"They're alright. There's a little bit of damage to the house, but nothing serious. Everybody is fine. We need to get to you."

"You need to get to Jace. You can worry about me in a minute."

"Do we need two stretchers?"

"No. My leg's just stuck. She needs help."

It wasn't until they started pulling her away from the arms of the woman that she started once more, to panic. She stared after them all knowing why the girl was fighting, but could do nothing.

It took nearly a half hour to get her out of the building, and even though she insisted she was fine, Mike insisted she at least be seen by an EMT.

* * *

The warmth was gone. There were no arms around her. No one holding her. No one there, showing her...love. There was only screaming voices and urgent hands. And frustration. She wanted to open her eyes. To see what was going on. But as much as she tried, they wouldn't budge.

She was being stuck by something, and someone was forcing air into her lungs. She could hear someone yelling that she was hard to ventilate...whatever that meant. She didn't hurt anywhere, except when she tried to breathe, but she was oddly achy.

She heard a small voice sounding muffled breathe the name "Stef" and realized it was herself when she heard a male voice to the right of her ask who Stef was and the other tell him that she was the cop stuck in the building they'd taken her out of.

That made her panic as she tried to breathe on her own and tried to move...anything. She was stuck in the building? She'd already sacrificed enough and now she was stuck? She was trying to remember everything but was failing miserably.

And the failing was not setting well with her. She was struggling again. She yelled out Stef's name once more, knowing that she did it this time and realized that everything hurt. They were screaming at her now, telling her she needed to calm down, but she wasn't ready for that. She needed Stef. She needed Lena.

And that took her back. She hadn't needed anyone in a long time. It suddenly made sense now. She needed someone else. But more than that, she wanted someone else.

She felt like she was floating. Had they given her something? The cops name left her lips one last time before the will to fight quickly vanished.

Pulling up to the hospital, she got out of the squad car. Mike grabbed her wrist. "Stef, I really wish you'd let them check out your leg more than you did. Lena's going to kill me if I don't do everything to..."

"Lena will be fine. Speaking of, let me have your phone? I lost mine in the building somewhere."

Letting his breath out irritated, he handed it to her and she dialed the number. Relief flooded her entire body as she got to hear her wife's voice and tell her she loved her. Assuring her that she was okay herself, the kids and the house were all accounted for and in good shape, they agreed that she would make it up to the hospital soon.

Handing the phone back to Mike, she closed the door and made her way into the hospital front door. It looked like a madhouse and she knew she was going to be on her own to find where Jace was at.

Making it to the Emergency part of the building, she used her badge to get back to where the new patients had been brought in and found her rather quickly. Pulling up a chair beside the bed, she reached out and took the kids hand, much like she had before.

It wasn't long before a nurse popped her head in and saw her there. "Did you bring her in?"

Stef shook her head. "I was in a building with her when it collapsed." then she took in a breath. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Nodding a little, the short blond girl who was barely in her twenties, nodded. "I guess they had to sedate her in the ambulance on the way here. She was struggling and fighting the EMT's and they were trying to get her breathing again. She inhaled a lot of dust and some of it got into her lungs. We're hoping a nebulizer will help her breathe better on her own and they're going to get an MRI as soon as we have a machine available and make sure there was no damage to her head where she got that huge knot on it."

Closing her eyes gently then opening them, she squeezed her hand slightly. "She must have really been fighting in order to have to be sedated."

Nodding once more, she smiled with sad eyes. "They said she called out the name Stef a couple of times, even though she never opened her eyes, and then started fighting them while they ran IV's and tried to fight the oxygen mask they had on her. So they made the decision that sedating her would be better, all things considered."

Understanding, she let her breath out. The question of whether or not she would even be alright hung in the air, though she refused to ask it. Looking up, she thanked the nurse and told her she would be there with her from here on out.

Looking down at the girl who was still as glass, she leaned in a bit. "You hear that? I'm not going anywhere. And neither is Lena. You're stuck with us, kid. Even if you left again tomorrow, we'd still care."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Alright guys! Here's the last chapter! This was my first Fosters fic and my longest fic by far. I hope you enjoy the last bit!**

Coming back to her senses, before she could open her eyes, she listened to the beeping, felt something on her face as well as a warm hand in hers. Feeling oddly exhausted, she wiggled her fingers, which instantly prompted a reaction from whoever was beside her.

"Jace?"

Swallowing, she tried to open her eyes, even for a second. Lena. A smiling face that was so welcomed by her.

"Hey there." she said softly.

Closing her eyes in a long blink, she opened them again. "Stef..."

"Stef is fine. She's at home with the kids right now. Everyone is okay, thankfully."

Still trying to piece everything together, she let her breath out. "Earthquake..."

"Yes. There was an earthquake. You were in a warehouse apparently. Stef made it to you, but the building collapsed, with the two of you in it. Don't ever do that again, okay? I swear I lost ten years of my life to worry."

Swallowing hard, she nodded. "Sorry."

Smiling again, she shook her head. "It's okay. You just gave us all a really good scare. So no more running off."

She stared at her, not giving her an answer one way or another.

"Deal?"

Studying her for a minute, she conceded. "Deal."

Hearing a soft knock on the door, they were both surprised to see Monte stepping into the room. "Hey."

"Hi!" Lena replied. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "She's all over the news. I had to check on her and make sure you guys were okay. How is your wife?"

Smiling, she nodded. "She's alright. She's with the kids right now getting some rest. Neither one of us were willing to leave Jace alone in case she woke up."

Stepping closer to the bed, she smiled herself at the girl. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

Nodding lightly, she yawned and closed her eyes.

"You're alright. You rest. I just wanted to stop in." and she placed a small vase filled with roses on the window sill. Looking at the exhausted expression on Lena's face, she cleared her throat a little. "Have you seen Stef since it happened?"

Lena nodded. "Briefly."

"You know what? Why don't you go to your wife? I'll stay here with Jace."

Looking down at the girls tired eyes, the question hung in the air.

Taking a deep breath in, she nodded. "Go. Be with Stef. Tell her I'm so sorry." she whispered.

"Honey, why would you be sorry about anything?"

Closing her eyes a tear ran down her cheek. "She almost died because of me."

Letting her breath out, she closed her eyes and squeezed the girls hand. "No, Jace. She didn't almost die because of you. She almost died because of an earthquake."

Not ready to concede her point, she shook her head lightly. "She shouldn't have been in that building."

"Neither should you." and she watched her struggle to stay awake. "You know what? We can discuss this later, right now though, you need to rest."

"Go to Stef." and she swallowed. "Go be with your kids. They need you, more than I do."

Letting her breath out once again, she shook her head looking at her boss.

"She'll be alright. I've got her."

* * *

Making her way through the door, she was so relieved to see her wife's beautiful face, asleep on the couch, and the kids all in their rooms. They had cleaned up the mess where the quake had dropped things off the walls and rattled a few things loose when it kept going.

The first kid that popped down the steps was Callie, who was smiling hugely. "Mama." she called out gently, walking into Lena's arms.

"Shhh. Hi." she whispered softly. "How long has mom been asleep?"

"She crashed out not long after she got here. All she wanted to do was watch a movie with all of us, so we all crowded her in on the couch and one by one gave her some space until she was asleep."

This made her smile. They had the greatest kids ever.

"How is Jace?"

"She's alright. Monte is with her right now."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Well good." and she hugged her once more. "Marianna and I are cooking dinner tonight so I'm trying to get a menu together."

"Wow. Thanks." and she gave the brunette a quick kiss on the forehead before letting her go, walking over to the couch, sitting gingerly on the side.

Opening her eyes, she smiled. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hey."

Sitting straight up, she looked around. "What time is it? Is Jace home already?"

Unable to contain her giggling, she shook her head. "It's almost five."

She stared, shaking her head. It was hard to believe it had been over a day since being stuck in that building. Then she heard her kids in the kitchen and was so glad. Yawning, she covered her mouth with her hand and completely orientated herself. "I must have been tired."

"All things considered, I'm sure you were."

"Where is Jace?"

"Um...Monte is with her right now."

"Really?"

Lena nodded. "She showed up, said Jace was all over the news and then said she'd stay with her as long as we needed and to come home to you."

That made Stef smile.

"What?"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Nodding her head, she smiled as well. "I think so." and she bent in, kissing her sweetly.

Wrapping her arms around her, she sat there for what seemed like forever, just holding her wife.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"So am I." she admitted back. "It was definitely one hell of a ride."

* * *

**3 Months Later**

Standing in the courthouse, she looked at the two women standing beside her. Letting her breath out nervously, she started pacing for the umpteenth time, waiting for their names to be called. "How have you guys done this three times?"

Squeezing Lena's hand, she smiled. "Calm down. You'll be up soon."

"What if he wont let me adopt her?"

"She's been in the system for a long time. I doubt they're going to deny it. They've studied your house, they wouldn't have recommended it if they didn't think you would be a good fit."

"What if he says that I haven't been fostering long enough? I've only had my license since we talked."

"It's one week shy of three months, he's not going to deny it."

"What if..."

"Monte," Lena stepped forward in front of her boss, taking her gently by her upper arms. "Stef and I have been through this. We've been instantly approved, we've been denied more than once with Callie and that finally went through. We will help you guys, any way we can. Now calm down."

Taking another deep breath, she nodded. "I know. You're right."

It was around that time that a bailiff stepped out of the court room calling out Jace's name. Turning to her, to be daughter, she took a deep breath. "Ready?"

Nodding, she followed into the court room. After a lot of questions and a long drawn out process, it was official. She had a mom. Not sure how she felt, but glad for it, she kept the smile on her face all through out dinner and home. She had a home. She belonged somewhere. And she was grateful for it.

Looking at the girl in the passenger side, she smiled turning the car off. "You're home. It's official. How do you feel?" and she watched her formulate a response. The kid had come so far in the last three months. She still had a guilt complex which caused her to apologize constantly, but she'd done really good, actually opening up about almost everything.

Glancing at the front porch, she didn't know how to feel. This woman just connected with her somehow, on a level that no one else could. When Stef and Lena had talked to her about staying with Monte, she never thought it would actually work out. At first, she thought they were just giving up on her, but it wasn't too long before she realized that they both saw something in Monte that was good for her. She hadn't known it at the time, but her and the older woman had more in common that any of them knew. And it created a bond that no one could break. One that she'd actually grown dependent on, and grateful for.

Biting her lip, she finally looked back down at her hands in her lap and glanced to her left. "I'm a little scared, but I'm really grateful. It's kinda surreal."

"I know what you mean. Frightening but exciting at the same time."

"Yeah."

"Well, you'll get to see Lena every day, and you know I'd never keep you away from Stef or any of the kids, if you're worried I'm going to get..."

Half laughing, she shook her head. "Actually, I'm not worried about that. I'm not worried about much when it comes to you. And it freaks me out a little."

She was laughing. "No, I know exactly what you're saying. It's hard to trust someone...anyone, again, after being through what you and I have. But we do. You get through it, and before you realize, you're letting yourself open up again, and you're living again. You find yourself adopting head strong teenagers who have been through what you have, so that you can help them through it."

Looking up at her now, she knew the woman was right. As weird as it was, she hoped she was right. That there was a future. "Who knew that one girl, talking about her mom being a cop, would start...all of this?"

"Well in all fairness, you did jump in front of the bullet on your own accord."

"Eh. It was just one of those things. I saw the gun, I saw who it was pointed to and I just reacted. I like Stef. And Lena. Both of them helped me when I never thought anyone would. Then they led me to you and...well...here we are."

"Here we are." and she looked up at the house. "Home."

"Home." Jace repeated wistfully. "I like the sounds of that."

"Well then, kiddo. Lets get in there."

Smiling, she nodded. "Lets get in there."

**Well folks...this is the end of this story for now. I have another Fosters fic in the works, but I'd love to see if you guys want to see more of Jace, or if this should be a stand alone? I'll leave it to you! It's been an incredible ride and I definitely want to thank you all for sticking around with me for as long as you have! I've definitely enjoyed writing this one! :)**

**SIDE: I'm hearing everyone. If you'll bare with me, I'll add on and explain a little bit more between Monte and Jace so it's not so hurried. In my head I had it played out a lot better, but you guys are right. Give me a few days. :)**


End file.
